Jean Mensa, Kissi Agyebeng
President John Mahama has forwarded to the Chief Justice (CJ), 10 petitions calling for the removal of the Chairperson of the Electoral Commission (EC), Jean Mensa and her two deputies as well as Special Prosecutor (SP), Kissi Agyebeng.
Minister of State in charge of Government Communications, Felix Kwakye Ofosu, speaking to JoyNews yesterday, confirmed receipt of the petitions and indicated that they are now in the hands of Justice Paul Baffoe-Bonnie, who is expected to deal with them in accordance with law.
The confirmation comes just few days after news surfaced that an employee of the EC, Joseph Blankson Adumadzie had petitioned the President to remove the EC Chair and her two deputies.
It later emerged that he is currently on interdiction for allegedly stealing equipment belonging to his employers and had been dragged to court for the offence.
Just days later, seven new petitions were sent to the Office of the President, all calling for removal of Jean Mensa and her deputies, raising eye brows about the timing and whether they are meant to cover up the potential tainted nature of the first one.
“Every process that needed to be done has been undertaken,” Kwakye Ofosu said while confirming receipt of the 10 petitions, noting that the process for doing so is quite clear.
“At this stage, the process has left the hands of the President beyond conveying the petitions to the Chief Justice. There’s little else that the President does in this particular instance. Everything now rests with the Chief Justice, who I believe will act in accordance with Ghanaian law,” he added.
President Mahama last week received 10 petitions, seven of which are calling for the removal of Jean Mensa and her two deputies, Dr. Bossman Eric Asare, in charge of Corporate, and Samuel Tettey, responsible for Operations from the Electoral Commission.
The other three are asking the President to remove Kissi Agyebeng as the Special Prosecutor, in the midst of several individuals calling for his removal for being ineffective.
Article 70(2) of the Constitution, empowers the President “acting on the advice of the Council of State, to appoint the Chairman, Deputy Chairmen, and other members of the Electoral Commission.”
Their removal follows the same processes outlined in Article 146 of the Constitution, the procedure for removing Justices of the Superior Courts.
The provision states that if the President receives a petition for the removal of a Justice of a Superior Court other than the Chief Justice or for the removal of the Chairman of a Regional Tribunal, he shall refer the petition to the Chief Justice, who shall determine whether there is a prima facie case.
Where there is establishment of prima facie case, the Chief Justice shall set up a committee consisting of three Justices of the Superior Courts or Chairmen of the Regional Tribunals or both, appointed by the Judicial Council and two other persons who are not members of the Council of State, nor Members of Parliament, nor lawyers, to determine the petition.
The committee will investigate the complaint and make its recommendations to the Chief Justice who shall forward it to the President.
The hearing shall be done in-camera and “the President shall, in each case, act in accordance with the recommendations of the committee.”
Special Prosecutor
In the case of the Special Prosecutor, the President must, within seven days, refer any petition calling for his removal to the Chief Justice who shall, within 30 days, determine whether there is a prima facie case.
Once prima facie is established, the Chief Justice shall within 14 days set up a committee which has a mandate similar to committees hearing petitions against the removal of heads of constitutional bodies or institutions appointed by the President.
The committee has 90 days within which to investigate the allegations and make a recommendation to the President, who is duty-bound to carry out such recommendations.
BY Gibril Abdul Razak